NIO and Destiny White Montezuma Chill by NIO and Destiny White
Here’s a new track in progress inspired by the amazing poetry and voice of Destiny White. We met while I was DJing for some performances at the incredible Anamaya resort in Montezuma, Costa Rica in December, 2010. This is a first installment of some upcoming tracks and collaboration.
Pura vida de Montezuma, Costa Rica.
I love Costa Rica. It’s an amazing place. There’s a lot of beauty here. Unfortunately, if you are into trees, you quickly discover there’s not too much beauty in the cities and towns here. Perhaps it is the farming mentality, but in San Jose, Cartago, and many other cities, there are hardly any city trees at all. As a result many of the towns are extremely hot and barren concrete somewhat ugly places (at least from my aesthetic sensibilities).
So what can be done? Education of the importance of city trees is key.
Here’s an inspiring story from South Africa that I hope people will share with Ticos in power. I have to say that I am impressed lately with a lot of the small trees I see planted all of the time lately in San Jose and think their mayor is doing a lot but as the following story illustrates, people need to be educated in the importance of trees and letting them grow.
What I find disturbing is the amount of 30 to 80 year old trees I see chopped down all of the time. These are the big trees that give more shade, more oxygen. It’s a cumulative effect that will take decades to recover. For example, in the shopping mall between San Jose and Cartago they recently chopped some big trees that were in front of it. You don’t have to be super smart to figure out why they did it. The manager of the mall thinks, “Not enough people are coming here. If I chop the trees, more people will come because they will see it.” No, that’s not the reason. It’s because it’s on a curve and everyone is going really fast. It’s a pain to drive in there and get out. If you are heading towards Cartago, you need to remember in advance and get across the highway. Yes, it’s only two big trees that are gone (yet another two, I see it almost daily). And it seems like there’s some newly planted trees right nearby. It will only take 30 or 40 years until they get the size the old ones killed last week are. I will be 80 years old (I am 43 now). There will be a new manager at the mall (will most likely be gone by then anyway, location, location, location). If they are educated, hopefully they will not chop down the new trees.
Pura vida.
 |
|
|
Here’s the feedback from my first online MP3 purchaser:
Travis-
I love your cd! Its grown on me each time I listen to it – great vibes – what genre do you call it? Who are some of your fav musicians and styles?
Peace
James
Do the right thing. It will gratify some people and astonish the rest.
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhornne Clemens, 1835-1910)
Wow, I am back in Costa Rica. Four months went fast. I remember being so happy about getting high technology in the States upon arrival last July, 2010. It was so fun, but with the convenience comes the high bills. $90/month for unlimited calling and unlimited data ($50 + $35). Anyways, after getting my new iPhone in Los Angeles I was totally psyched. I got it used and it was an unlocked and jailbroken iPhone 3G, right when the iPhone 4 was coming out and it was incredible to be able to get it for so cheap (the police raided the Starbucks I was buying it from 30 seconds after I left with their guns drawn, something I luckily missed and that’s another story). So, after paying $90/month on T-Mobile I said can that and went without data for two months just using the WiFi when I needed it which is everywhere.
After all of my difficulties with an iPhone 3G with no WiFi as chronicled before, I was excited to check it out in Costa Rica again. We went to four cell phone places my first day back in San Jose trying to get a Kolbi Prepaid card or better yet a permanent line with unlimited up and down on the data plan, but none of the places would sell us the Kolbi 3G plan, so we finally went to ICE near Tibas in San Jose. It was raining and in the ten minutes there our umbrella got stolen! But aside from that the guy was pretty much not very helpful (big surprise) and they showed me a list of the “approved” 3G phones of which only the iPhone 3GS was one not my 3G. I was like ugh, not again.
However, being quite experienced of the ways of Costa Rica, we left (with the umbrella the guard said had been sitting there for days so we should take that one, but then outside another guard said, hey, that looks just like my umbrella, whatever, Costa Rica!), and had the plan to go back to Turrialba where they have a very helpful place across from ICE where they actually help you and tell you the information you need to know.
The next day it was super easy to get set up, they had expanded since I left the place four months before and had the place next door and a good way to set up your new phones and could help with the 3G. I really wanted to have an unlimited Data plan on my iPhone not a pay as you go, but since it was going to involve ICE, and they usually like to program your phone in weird ways, I decided to go the easy route and get on the 10,000 pay as you go plan and I am so happy that I did! It was only 1/2 an hour and I have WI-FI where I am at and may where I am going to the beach. The prices of the DATACARDS have gone way down, so I think just to make it easy, I am going to buy a dedicated ICE Huwaei Datacard and have that on my MacBook. I found last April when I would use my iPhone as a modem or a MiWi hotspot it would burn pretty hot after a few hours or at times the charge would come down, so I’ll just make it easier that way.
Feel free to comment or ask any questions or advice. If you need networking or connectivity advice in Costa Rica, I am available!
ICE Finally giving High Speed Upload
As anyone who has seen my internet 3G woes, today is a happy day. I bought a new chip the other day in the hope that the APN kolbi3g would help me get faster upload speeds, but this sort of voo-doo networking has come to an end now that they have kicked off all of the freeloaders getting the high speed for cheap and people like me who recently signed up for the high one finally are getting 340kbs upload as opposed to the 120kbs throttle I had been experiencing, I am so happy, just in time, too, since I am finishing up a website and it is great for me as I need to get some stuff done!
Well, I still have a ways to go for being as happy as most Costa Ricans but I have to say, it is kind of contagious. I made a journey out to Malpais and Santa Theresa in the Nicoya Peninsula last week and it was beautiful and amazing, but definitely not Costa Rica, in the sense of the real Costa Rica filled with Costa Rican’s. It was a great beach town filled with cool expats, beautiful surfers and incredible nature and wildlife, but wait, I guess that is Costa Rica, too.
Well, my version of Costa Rica has been family. All family all the time. My new Costa Rican family, and wow are they incredible people. Maya is 9 months old now, and we have bought her a few things but we didn’t need to because every relative or cousin and all of the neighbors within ten blocks have bought her presents. My friend Janelle who is half-Brazillian and has a nine year old son I have known since he was two, told me, “The people in L.A. hate children, you go into a restaurant and they look at you weird for your child, etc… etc… In Brazil, however, and Latin America, children are rock-stars. Everyone loves them so much and gives them so much attention.” Well, she is right, it is amazing for me to witness it. This must one of the reasons it’s such a happy place.
Abolishing the Army wasn’t a bad idea either.
See Nicholas D. Krostoff’s article below.
Travis, Marcia & Maya in Cahuita National Park
One of the best things about living in Costa Rica is the wide variety of micro-climates which exist here. While I live technically in what is known as the Central Valley of Costa Rica, the reality is that Turrialba is just on the edge of the Atlantic Lowlands heading into Limon, Cahuita, Puerto Viejo on into Sixaola to continue to the frontier with Panama.
After three weeks in Europe with family, one amazing wedding in Sitio Mata, near Turrialba. I decided I needed to continue my openness to the world and needed to travel. So I set off with Marcia & Maya to the beach. We left pretty early and got there in about three hours stopping along the way. It was a rare nearly cloudless day and the Caribbean beach was an amazing site to see. Heading towards Guapiles on the “highway” from Turrialba the views of the Turrialba Volcano were astounding. I stopped along the way and found a lovely property for sale 45 acres for $180,000 with an incredible view of the volcano right on the main road and a small Caribbean wooden plantation home and 30 head of cattle. I spoke with the owner. I love the idea of it, but don’t have the income to support it now, would love to have someone I know buy it.
After traveling in Europe, we were much more relaxed with our seven month old on the road, she was such a trooper on the planes, not crying even once all 40 hours there and back, it was really quite astounding.
All Content Copyright Travis Winn, NIO. Nothing is Original.
